Hear Assistant Professor Jason Naranjo of UW Bothell discuss the curriculum and learning outcomes of the Certificate in Special Education for General Educators, a program that includes both online and classroom components. Click here to learn more:
Video Transcript:
We expect that students that come into this program will be folks who already have a Washington teacher's license. And they’re folks who are looking to either advance their careers with an eye towards teacher leadership and having this broader skill set in terms of serving all students better in schools.
The first chunk of curriculum is about foundations, foundations in history of the field of special education. The next chunk is for folks to engage in learning related to assessment and what it means to design and implement assessment practices in the classroom. The next piece of the curriculum is focused around planning and what it means to put together comprehensive and appropriate individual education plans and programs for students with disabilities in the general setting.
The final piece of curriculum is around instructional practices in special education with a focus on what it means to do that work in the general ed setting. And then, provided, that the coursework has been completed satisfactorily, we recommend to the state that the person be given endorsement. This is a K-12 endorsement, so that endorsement rides in tandem with their current certification and allows them to work in special education as endorsed by the state of Washington.
This program is set up so, essentially, the balance is 85 percent online and 15 percent face to face. It really allows the learner to figure out when they best do that work. If you're a person with a family that might be at 8 o’clock at night after your kids have gone to bed.
We know that there's a desperate need for school leaders and administrators to have a deep and rich knowledge of special education because those students are, become, a very big part of the work of school administrators in supporting all students and all learning in schools.